Pyrophoric lighter



Jam.A 22, 19446. l l.. As'rRFF 2,393,451.

PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Filed June 7, 1943 Inl/'infon- A A .Cu/isha# 'iPatented Jan. 22, 1946 UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE PYROPHORIC LIGHTERLeo Astroi, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ApplicationJune 7, 1943, Serial No.489,922

. z claims. (ci. s1-ml) This invention relates to pyrophoric lighters.

An object of the invention 1 is to provide a lighter of simple structurehaving improved operating elciency and readily actuatable means forpromoting such eiliciency.

A'v specific object is to provide an improved wickholding structureadapted to permit easeof insertion of a wick thereinto, andV convenientadjustment of the wick during use.

Another object is to provide a novel pyrophoric element supporting meansadapted to assist the emcient and convenient operation of the lighter.

A further object is to provide, a simple operating head for a lighterinvolving a minimum of moving parts whereby manufacturing costs arelowered and operating life is extended.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the description tofollow. with particular reference to the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a sectional side elevation,

Figure 2 is a side elevation',

Figure 3 is an end elevation,

Figure 4 is a, transverse sectional elevation, and

Figure 5 is a partial side elevation.

Referring to the drawing, the lighter illustrated includes a, maincasing I, an operating head 2, a wick-holding structure 3, and apyrophoric element supportingmeans 4.

' The operating head is mounted between two upwardly extending sidewallportions 5 of the casing.- A generally channel-shaped lever member 6 ispivoted at one end to the walls 5 by eral portion to remain stationarywhen the inner portion rotates in the opposite direction.

The serrated edge of the peripheral portion I 6 has engagement with theend of a bar I8 oi" pyrophoric material, the supporting means for whichincludes a tube I9 extending downwardly to the bottom ofthe casing. Thelower portion of the tube I9 is interiorly threaded for engagement withan exteriorly threaded sleeve 20. A spring 2| in the tube has one endbearing on the lower end of the pyrophoric bar and the other end bearingon the upper end of the sleeve. The latter is keyed to a shaft 22 forrotation therewith but in a manner permitting reciprocation with respectthereto. For this purpose the shaft may be square in cross-section vandthe sleeve may have a longitudinal bore to receive the shaft. The shafthas an enlarged head 23 at its upper end to provide a sleeve-engagingstop and a disclike knob 24 at the other end for'manipulation thereof.It will be observed that the shaft may be rotated to cause upward ordownward movement of the sleeve and consequently to increase or decreasethe tension of spring 2l. Bearing 25 pressure of the pyrophoric bar I8on the spark means of pins I and its other end is provided with amanually engageable knob 8 normally held in an upper :position by aspring 9 mounted on the casing. A snuffer cap I0 is pivoted` by means ofpins II to ears I2 on the member 5, such. ears being locatedsubstantially midway between the ends of the member. The snufler cap Illhas a channel-shaped extension I3 into which extends a. spark-producingwheel I4. 'I'he ylatter is mounted von a square shaft I5 which extendsthrough the opposedwalls of the channel portion I3 oi' the snuer cap.The ends of the square shaft I5 are rounded and journalled i-n the sidewall portions 5.

producing wheel may be therefore conveniently adjusted whenevernecessary in order to obtain eii'icient sparking.- It will also beobserved that the shaft 22 may at any time be withdrawn from the tube adistance equal to the distance between the upper end of sleeve 20 andthe stop 23 on the end of the shaft. An indication of the amount ofunused pyrophoric material in the lighter is thus conveniently afforded,since, assuming that the tension of the spring 2I is maintainedsubstantially constant, the aforesaid distance will vary inversely withthe length of the pyrophoric bar. The desired tension of the spring, i.e., that at which efllcient sparking takes place, may be maintained withlittle variation by adjustment of the sleeve 20.

The wick-supporting structure 3 includes a tube 25 through which thewick 26 extends. The tube 25 with the wick is removably mounted in thecasing, the upper portion of one side of the casing being open asindicated at 21 for easy access to the structure. The lower portion ofthe tube 25 is adapted to fit into a second tube 28 mounted in thecasing.' A shoulder portion 29 on the tube 25 engages the casing, asshown, to position the structure in the casing. A screw 30 mounted inthe shoulder 294 and having a head 3l for more rigid positioning of thestructure. Means, conveniently associated with the screw 30, may beprovided to apply pressure on the wick at this point to adjust orprevent conduction of liqrid fuel by the wick. Such means comprises aclamping member 32 swlvelly mounted on the end of the screw. Rotation ofthe screw will increase or decrease the pressure of the member 32 on theWick. Thus, the amount of fuel conducted to the end of the wick may beadjusted for most eiiicient operation of the lighter. Moreover, `whenthe lighter is not in use, evaporation of fuel may be substantiallyprevented by adjustment of the clamping means to cut off substantiallythe flow of liquid fuel through the wick. The head 3l is convenientlyformed as a serrated disc, the face-of which may be provided withgraduated markings 3|' to indicate the degree of pressure which may beapplied as desired to the wick. Acover member 31 has a front wall 4I anda pair of side walls 42 hinged to the casing at 38. The cover member hasdownwardly extending lugs 39 adapted to overlie and engage portions ofthe head 3I to resist unintentional rotation of the head. A pointer 40may be provided on the cover member to cooperate with the markings 3|'.

Means for conveniently adjusting the position of the wick in the tube isprovided and comprises a housing 33 formed by an enlargement of thetube, a wick-engaging pricker wheel 34 in the housing xed to a shaft 35journalled in the walls of the housing, and a pair of wheels 36 outsidethe housing fixed to the ends of the shaft. The wheels 36 have serratededges to permit ease of manual rotation thereof. It will be observedthat the wheels 36 are of relatively large diameter and project wellbeyond the adjacent casing walls. Thus, they are conveniently accessiblefor manual rotation. Such rotation moves the Wick upwardly or downwardlyin the tube to4 adjust the amount of wick projecting from the end oftheA tube for lighting purposes, as desired. r Y

The walls of cover member 31 constitute a casing for the wick adjustingmechanism, which casing may be readily swung upwardly to permit accessto such mechanism, as shown in Figure 1. l

Fuel may be supplied to the casingthrough the opening 43. The casing maycontain the usual with the wick. l l

Referrmg to Figure 5,11-, wm be observed that in operation o! thelighter, downward movement of the member 8 about its pivot 'l will movethe inner end of extension I3 downwardly to elevate the snuffer cap outof contact with the end of the wick. Such movement of the cap will causerotation of the inner portion I1 of the spark producing wheel I4, theratchet mechanism previously referred vto being such that, during suchrotative movement, the peripheral portion I6 rotates therewith to engagefrictionally the pyrophoric bar I8 and cause sparks to ignite the wick.On release of the member 8, spring 9 causes upward movement of the sameand downward movement of the snufl'er cap into engagement with the endof the wick. The resulting opposite rotative movement of the portion I1of the Wheel I4 does not cause rotative movement of the peripheralportion I3, as previously described.

It will be apparent that various changes in the lighter described and inthe structural details of the several parts thereof may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as deflned in theappended claims.

I claim:

l. In a pyrophoric lighter a substantially rectangular casing, a fuelcompartment and an auxiliary chamber within the casing, a wallseparating the fuel compartment from said chamber and having ahorizontally disposed shoulder defining the lower end of the chamlber, asocket in said shoulder, a removable wick-carrying unit freely mountedin said socket, said casing having a cut away portion in one corner toprovide'a recess exposing said chamber and the wick-carrying unittherein and a channel shaped door memfber pivoted at the top of thecasing for closing and opening said recess.

2. A lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein said wick-carrying unitcomprises a wick supporting tube and means for adjusting the position ofa wick in the tube comprising a wick engaging pricker wheel, a housingtherefor adjacent the upper end of the tube, a shaft journalled in thehousing and carrying said wheel and manually rotatable means fixed tothe shaft and located externally of the housing for actuating saidpricker wheel.

- LEO ASTROFF.

